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Expedia Joins Anti-Elephant Tourism Movement

The global travel industry is rallying around ethical elephant tourism, with another company jumping on the bandwagon to help end the cruel attraction.
The latest travel company to stop offering packages that involve elephant entertainment is the travel website, Expedia.
Even though attitudes are changing toward elephant tourism, the captivity of elephants continues to grow, particularly in Asian countries, World Animal Protection reported.
World Animal Protection is an international non-profit animal welfare organization that has been in operation for over 30 years.
More than 160 global travel companies have stopped offering travel packages that include elephant entertainment, including popular Australian brands, Adventure World, Antipodean, Intrepid Travel and World Expeditions.
“We congratulate Expedia for taking a positive step forward to stop the demand for tourists visiting cruel wildlife attractions,” deputy director for wildlife at World Animal Protection, Audrey Mealia, said.
“As a result of our work, TripAdvisor led the way last year when it ended the sale of some cruel wildlife attractions and more than 160 travel companies have stopped offering and promoting elephant rides and shows to their customers,” she added.
Mealia noted that travel companies that have not yet followed suit should join the movement, as more companies realize the cruelty that wild animals endure behind the scenes.
More than 3,000 elephants are forced into captivity for tourist activities and entertainment across Asia. Welfare conditions are usually severely inadequate, as the elephants are kept in chains day and night when they are not performing or giving rides to tourists.
This life of captivity begins with severe trauma, with young elephants separated from their mothers before suffering a harsh training process to break their spirits.